October 23, 2017
RODRIGO
Leadership
Assembly
Continued from page 1
Rodrigo flooded his schedule in an
attempt to pay his parents back for their
sacrifice. When he was not studying, he was
practicing on the soccer fields or working at
a local Ukiah restaurant.
“This was just something I chose to do,”
he said. “Work. Take all these courses. Just
because I felt like I had to give back to my
parents. Show them their hard work wasn’t
for nothing.”
He says he learned his work ethic from
his parents. His mother works at the same
local restaurant as a dishwasher. But he’s
also quick to praise his father for the com-
mitment to provide for the family.
“My dad wakes up at four in the morning
and goes to work,” Rodrigo said. “Comes
back at five in the evening. Does that every
day. And I don’t know how he does it. All
his effort that he made for me to go to
school, that’s why I do so well in school.
Because he motivates me to try to get him
a better life.”
Rodrigo’s ability to juggle school, soc-
cer, and work caught the attention of many
educators at Ukiah High.
“To be an athlete and a student and a
worker, it’s not like your calculus teacher’s
giving you a break,” Bishop said. “It’s not
like your physics teacher is giving you a
break. There’s all this stuff that’s going on.”
Yet, despite the obstacles, Rodrigo found
a way to do it all. He graduated from Ukiah
High in the spring. This fall, he became the
first person in his family to go to college
when he enrolled at Mendocino College.
It’s his way to show his parents how much
he appreciates their love and support.
“His situation isn’t necessarily unique
to our community, to our students,” Eagle
Peak Middle School Assistant Principal
Cassandra Mortier said. “But it’s exactly
that. To him, there was no alternative. It’s
just innate. He knows no other way than to
be as exceptional as he is.”
EDCAL 7
Delegates to Leadership Assembly heard from the leading candidates
for superintendent of public instruction, Marshall Tuck, above and Tony
Thurmond, right, in conversations facilitated by ACSA President Lisa
Gonzales. Each candidate made the case for why they should be the
next person to lead California schools.
During the recent Leadership Assembly in Los Angeles, delegates worked
on initial steps for the next ACSA strategic plan, sharing input on what they
think will be the top trends in school leadership in the next 5-10 years; the top
trends that will impact public agencies including schools in that time; and the
macro trends that will be impacting society, schools and students.
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Past ACSA member Richard Carranza moved on from his superintenden-
cy of San Francisco USD to take on the superintendency of Houston ISD.
He joined Leadership Assembly to express his thanks for the donations
ACSA members sent to his city in the wake of Hurricane Harvey.